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Exodus 39

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The Priestly Garments Constructed 1–21

1
And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses. ​
2
And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
3
And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work. ​
4
They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together: by the two edges was it coupled together.
5
And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses.
6
And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel. ​
7
And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. ​
8
And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. ​
9
It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.
10
And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row.
11
And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
12
And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
13
And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.
14
And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes. ​
15
And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathen work of pure gold.
16
And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings; and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.
17
And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate.
18
And the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod, before it.
19
And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward.
20
And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
21
And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses. ​

The Robe of the Ephod 22–26

22
And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. ​
23
And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.
24
And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen.
25
And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates;
26
A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses. ​

Tunics and Accessories 27–29

27
And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, ​
28
And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen,
29
And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses.

The Golden Plate of the Crown 30–31

30
And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. ​
31
And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Completion of the Tabernacle Work 32–43

32
Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they. ​
33
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets, ​
34
And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering,
35
The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
36
The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread,
37
The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light,
38
And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door,
39
The brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot,
40
The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation,
41
The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to minister in the priest's office.
42
According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. ​
43
And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 39

Verse 1

cloths of service — Serad is stitched or woven cloth; it appears only in Exodus, at 31:10, 35:19, and here (vv.1, 41). The phrase ‘as the LORD commanded Moses’ closes seven statements in this chapter (vv.1, 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 31): each garment is made to the command given in Exodus 28.

Verse 3

beat the gold into thin plates — Ex 28:6 names gold among the threads of the ephod but not how it was made; this verse alone gives the method. Raqa’ is to beat out thin, and the plates were cut into ‘wires’ (pathil, threads) and worked into the blue, purple, scarlet and linen. ‘Cunning work’ is the craft Bezalel had by ‘the spirit of God’ (Ex 31:3–4).

Verse 6

onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold — Two onyx stones (shoham) were each engraved with six names, ‘according to their birth’ (Ex 28:10). ‘Ouches’ are the gold settings. The engraving is done ‘like the engravings of a signet’, the work of an engraver in stone (Ex 28:11).

Verse 7

stones for a memorial — Zikkaron, a remembrance. Aaron was to ‘bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial’ (Ex 28:12). The word is used again of the twelve stones taken from the Jordan, ‘for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever’ (Josh 4:7).

Verse 8

the breastplate — Choshen, the breastplate of judgment, made of the same materials as the ephod. It was to hold ‘the Urim and the Thummim’ and rest ‘upon Aaron’s heart’ (Ex 28:30), with the names of Israel on it ‘for a memorial before the LORD continually’ (Ex 28:29).

Verse 14

twelve, according to their names — The stones were set in four rows of three (Ex 28:17–20), each stone engraved with one name ‘like the engravings of a signet’. The twelve names borne on the breastplate reappear in Rev 21:12, written on the twelve gates ‘which are the names of the twelve tribes’.

Verse 21

might not be loosed from the ephod — Zuach, to be moved out of place, is used only here and in Ex 28:28. The ‘lace of blue’ is pathil, the word rendered ‘wires’ in v.3. The breastplate lies ‘above the curious girdle’ (cheshev, the woven band of the ephod), so that it keeps its place.

Verse 22

all of blue — The robe of the ephod was made as commanded: ‘all of blue’ (Ex 28:31). Blue (tekeleth) is also the colour of the lace in vv.21 and 31, and of the ribband that Israel was to wear on the fringe of the garment, to ‘look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD’ (Num 15:38–39).

Verse 26

A bell and a pomegranate — The bells and pomegranates alternate ‘upon the hem of the robe round about’ (Ex 28:34). The reason is given in Ex 28:35: ‘his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not.’

Verse 27

coats of fine linen — Kuttoneth, the coat or tunic, woven (arag) as the robe was in v.22. Aaron’s sons are clothed with him: ‘for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats… for glory and for beauty’ (Ex 28:40). The coats are put on them at their consecration (Ex 40:14).

Verse 30

HOLINESS TO THE LORD — The plate (tsits, a gleaming plate, the same word as ‘flower’ in Ps 103:15) lay on Aaron’s forehead, so that he ‘may bear the iniquity of the holy things… that they may be accepted before the LORD’ (Ex 28:38). The same words are found on ‘the bells of the horses’ in Zech 14:20.

Verse 32

finished — Kalah is the verb of Gen 2:1, ‘Thus the heavens and the earth were finished’, and of Ex 40:33, ‘So Moses finished the work’. The work was made after the pattern ‘shewed thee in the mount’ (Ex 25:40), which Heb 8:5 calls ‘the example and shadow of heavenly things’.

Verse 33

they brought the tabernacle unto Moses — The parts are brought to Moses before they are raised: the tabernacle was ‘reared up’ only on the first day of the first month of the second year (Ex 40:17). The list repeats Ex 35:11, with its taches, boards, bars, pillars and sockets, and runs through v.41.

Verse 42

so the children of Israel made all the work — The chapter’s refrain is gathered into one sentence. The invitation of Ex 35:10, ‘every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded’, is answered here. The matching line of Moses follows in Ex 40:16, ‘Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he.’

Verse 43

Moses did look upon all the work — The verbs recall creation: God ‘saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good’ (Gen 1:31), and when the work was finished ‘blessed the seventh day’ (Gen 2:1–3). Here Moses looks at all the work, finds it done as commanded, and blesses them. The glory of the LORD fills the tabernacle once it is raised (Ex 40:34).